David Cameron’s NHS plans in further disarray, says Sefton Centr

This week the Prime Minister faces a fresh blow as the people he is placing at the centre of his reforms, GPs, say his plans "will cause irreparable damage to the core values of the NHS".

Dr Clare Gerada, Royal College of GP chairman, which represents 42,000 family doctors made her comments in the middle of the Prime Minister’s so called “listening exercise” on his troubled reforms.

Sefton Central Labour MP Bill Esterson said: “The Prime Minister says he is willing to listen. Well, he should listen to the people he is placing at the centre of these reforms. GPs are saying loud and clear his plans will fragment patient care and cause irreparable damage to the core values of the NHS.

"This is a red card for David Cameron's NHS plans and reinforces Labour's warnings. From competition law to charging patients, GPs are making it clear they don't want the Tories' free market NHS, and the prime minister must now make radical changes to his health plans in order to regain the trust of NHS professionals."

However, the “listening exercise” itself was thrown into question at Prime Ministers Questions last week when Ed Miliband asked the Prime Minister why the NHS Chief Executive, Sir David Nicholson, had written to NHS staff, after the “listening exercise” had begun, to say the timeline for implementing the reforms “remains unchanged”.

Leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband said: "The Prime Minister has been found out. This ‘listening exercise’ is simply a PR stunt. Doctors and nurses were already sceptical about whether this was a genuine consultation and this letter from the Department of Health shows they may have pressed the pause button on the legislation in Parliament, but on the ground they are ploughing ahead with their top down reorganisation.”